Tartans

A little bit about the two Manx Tartans

In 1957 it was suggested that the Isle of Man should adopt a National Tartan. Local designers were invited to send in their ideas and the winner was Patricia “Paddy” McQuaid who based her idea on the colours of the Manx landscape. Green, purple, white, yellow, blue, dark blue and rowan red. In 1978 with Paddy McQuaids tartan no longer available, Bob Wood, the owner of Laxey Woollen Mills, designed a new Manx-themed tartan using just five colours – blue, yellow, green, purple and white. The Laxey Tartan was registered with the Scottish Tartan Society and quickly became known as the Manx Tartan.

Manx hunting tartan was designed as a more masculine alternative to the blue Laxey Manx Tartan and its colours represent Dark Grey for the rocks, Deep Green for the glens, Tawny Brown for the bracken, Gold for the Cushag flowers, Silver for the mountain streams and White for the misty veil of Manannan’s Cloak